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Face shovels are characterised by a boom and bucket arm that extends and swings upwards from the front. It can be used to excavate any kind of soil, including rock that has been loosened by blasting. It is usual for an additional haulage vehicle to be required for spoil removal, as well as a low loadertransport lorry for travelling between sites. Face shovels are limited to an excavation depth of 300-400 mm below their own track or wheel level.

Also known as a skimmer, a trenching machine is used for excavating long trenches, such as those necessary for pipelines. They will normally dig trenches 0.25-1.5 m wide and up to depths of 3 m, where a high degree of accuracy is required. The machine moves forwards when excavating with buckets either mounted on a wheel at the front, or on a chain which is carried by a jib.

These are the most common ‘JCB digger’ machines, intended for small to medium-sized excavation works. They are fitted with loading/excavating front buckets with widths up to 2 m and a rear backacter bucket that has a 180-degree arc of operation. Both are hydraulically controlled by the operator/driver. Use of the backacter bucket requires that the machine is raised off its axles using rear-mounted hydraulic outriggers or jacks.

The machine is flexible in that it can be fitted, usually on the backacter dipper arm, with a variety of bucket widths and attachments such as bulldozer blades, scarifiers, grab buckets and post-hole auger borers.